august 19, 2009 page - Home

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AUG. 19, 2009 / PAGE 16
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Weathervane is more like a selective
small business incubator for types of music activities truly,
should all have a clear idea of what
and
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IN xxxxxxxxx
BY xxxxxxxxx
THE
STUDIO
THE WEATHERVANE
PROJECT
The past two weeks, it’s been back to
the grindstone for Weathervane
Music. Weathervane is a nonprofit
music organization that I and a
small group of friends have been
fashioning for the past year. We produce
a series of music recordings
and hi-definition video recordings
called The Weathervane Music Project
Series, through which we’ve re-
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corded and released two artists already
(Austin Texas’ Sunset and
Philadelphia’s East Hundred).
The focus most recently has been
building a community of music
fans, musicians and recording enthusiasts
to support the work of
Weathervane, and the need to be activists
and promote activism in our
Grand Opening
Table Showers, Sauna
Massage
4331 W. Lincoln Hwy.
Downingtown, PA
(Wedgewood Shopping Center)
610-269-0200
BRIAN
MCTEAR
OWNER OF
MINER STREET/
CYCLESOUND
RECORDINGS
society on behalf of artists who
make music.
The first task is difficult enough.
Anyone who has started a band or
any project that needs community
support will tell you that there is
just too much “noise” on the Internet,
and cutting through that noise
to promote your project is incredibly
difficult. My own personal sense
is that people “skim” their channels
(i.e. Facebook, Twitter feeds, etc.)
and therefore, they are highly likely
to lose your important posts among
other people’s purely casual posts.
Further, if you have a unique new
idea, the details of which may be
fairly nuanced but nonetheless crucial
to the understanding of your
idea, then people’s reduced attention
on the Internet feeds is just not
going to work.
Case in point: Weathervane. Even
among my own personal friends,
people who would have added incentive
to find out what I am doing,
especially if links to news and info
are emailed directly to them…even
these people don’t really GET what
Weathervane is all about. They
think we’re talking about a nonprofit
record label, and we are not.
great independent musicians that
produce a “member-supported” (like
public radio) series of music and
video to highlight and advance
those musicians. It may seem like a
label, but it’s not. Nonetheless, getting
people to comprehend those
nuances is incredibly difficult as
they skim Facebook statuses.
The other issue at hand for Weathervane
is the true need for straight up
activism on behalf of independent
musicians -- their rights and their
livelihood. As a society we spend
hundreds of dollars per year on music.
Unfortunately, that money these
days goes to iPods, phones that play
music and computers that will
stream music. If you thought there
was a long line of payouts that musicians
of the past had to endure (i.e.
labels, A&R agents, producers, etc.),
I submit that the line is far more
convoluted, and that today, in most
circumstances, it will never result in
artists seeing a penny for their music.
DIRECTLY support the artists we
love by putting money in their pockets.
This isn’t an attempt to put society
on a guilt trip. It’s simply a matter of
fact: If you want great music in your
society, then musicians have to be
able to make a living with music.
And besides, it’s only fair.
The best way to convey all these
ideas, I’ve found, is by talking to
people directly. We’ve recently begun
to have meet-ups in different
locations around the city. People
come out, and they hear everything
we’re doing and the idea crystallizes
through conversation. It’s been incredibly
effective. Even at a rate of
15 or 20 people at a time, we’ve
reached more people in recent
weeks by sitting down and talking
than we have through virtual discussions.
-- If you’d like to be notified of
our next meet-up, send an email
to info@weathervanemusic.org.
Write “Notify Me for Weathervane
Meet-ups” in the Subject.
Weathervane is committed to educating
society about the artistic process,
and about the need for independent
artists to get paid. We -- Brian McTear is a musician, producer
and engineer, the owner of Miner
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Street Recordings in Philadelphia, and
founder of Weathervane Music Organization.
Information, including pictures
of the Weathervane Project Series sessions,
can be found at http://weathervanemusic.org.
To make a donation, go to
http://weathervanemusic.org/donate
For more information on Miner Street
Recordings, http://myspace.com/minerstreetrecordings.
Espers - http://www.
myspace.com/espers
PA
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